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- "Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted, crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down upon the land."
- —The Return of the King, "Mount Doom"
The Downfall of Barad-dûr,[1] also known as the Fall of Barad-dûr[2] and the Fall of Sauron, was the cataclysmic fall of Sauron's tower of Barad-dûr due to the accidental destruction of the One Ring by Gollum in the Cracks of Doom.[3]
History[]
Around the year 1000 of the Second Age, Sauron began to have his servants construct the great tower of Barad-dûr, but the fortress wasn't completed until Sauron forged the One Ring in secret at Mount Doom around the year 1600.[4] Sauron used the One Ring to build foundations to support the tower, thus ensuring that the supports of the tower could not be destroyed while the ring endured. In the year 3434, Sauron, Elendil, and Gil-galad killed each other at the end of the seven years long Siege of Barad-dûr. After which, Isildur separated the One Ring from Sauron's hand and Barad-dûr was razed by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, though the foundations could not be destroyed since Isildur refused to destroy the One Ring.[5]
In the year 2951 of the Third Age, Sauron was driven out of Dol Guldur by the White Council.[1] After which, he returned to Mordor and rebuilt Barad-dûr upon its old unbroken foundations.[1] On March 25 of the year 3019, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee reached Sammath Naur in Mount Doom.[3] At the last moment, when Frodo fell and claimed the ring for his own, Gollum attacked, seizing the ring from Frodo before celebrating his victory.[3] However, he tripped into the fire and the ring was unmade.[3] Upon its destruction, Barad-dûr utterly collapsed to a point where not even its foundations remained.[3] The fall of Barad-dûr produced a shockwave that caused the Black Gate, Narchost, Carchost, and possibly Durthang to collapse as well.[6]
Legacy[]
As a consequence of the Downfall of Barad-dûr, Sauron was utterly diminished, being unable to grow in strength ever again.[7] He lost all his power and influence in the world,[8] "becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows"[9] of existence.[10]
A year after the Downfall of Barad-dûr, the Stewards' Reckoning in Gondor was replaced with a New Reckoning by King Elessar. A holiday called Cormarë was created in the New Reckoning to simultaneously honor Frodo on his birthday and celebrate the Downfall of Barad-dûr.[11]
Sometime during the Fourth Age, some Gondorians began to believe that the Ithil-stone was probably shattered by the fires of Mount Doom in the Downfall of Barad-dûr.[12]
In other versions[]
In adaptations[]
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King[]
In the third film of Peter Jackson's film trilogy, the Eye of Sauron immediately senses when the ring has been destroyed, letting out a great shriek and straining before Barad-dûr collapses in on itself. Unlike the book, the land between the tower and the Black Gate collapses into an abyss.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years, "The Third Age"
- ↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Expanded and Revised Edition, Letter 211
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. III: "Mount Doom", pgs. 946-7
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years, "The Second Age"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. II: "The Council of Elrond", pg. 244
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. IV: "The Field of Cormallen", pg. 949
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, Part Five: "Myths Transformed", "[Text] VII", section iii, pgs. 403 (note 11), 407
- ↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Expanded and Revised Edition, Letter 200
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. IX: "The Last Debate"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Valaquenta: Of the Enemies
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix D, "The Calendars"
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Four, III: "The Palantíri", pgs. 529, note 4